Locomotive firebox equipment



15, 1945. c. A. SIEGEL LOCOMO'I'IVE FIREBOX EQUIPMENT 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fired Jan. 28

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BY w PM A TORNEYS c. A. SIEGEL 2,367,532

LOCOMOTIVE FIREBOX EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 28, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVEIyR 8AM,

AT ORNEY5 Jan. 16, 1945.

Patented Jan. 16, 1945 LOCOMOTIVE FIREBOX EQUIPMENT.

' Chester A. Siege]; Newark;. J2, assignor to. American Arch. Company, New. -ilork,.N. Y., a

corporation of. Delaware Application January-28, 1942; SerialNo: 428,509-

1 Claimr (Cl. 1-22-68)- This invention relates tolocomotive firebox equipment, andmore particularly to a novel type or; circulatordevice'adapted to be mounted in a locomotive firebox.

There" are certain advantages in the employment of acirculator of the general typeincorporating a fairly large body acting as a reservoir-for an appreciablequantity of water, so as --to increase heatabsorption from the f'uel andifiame stream. Certain specific prior ci'rculator devices fulfilled this purpose, but-' were subject to disadvantages which the present invention overcomes.

One such prior circulator of well known construction comprises a generally triangular body; one edgeofwhich was connected with the water space above the firebox through an elongated slot in. the crown sheet. This has been subject to some structural and operational di'fiiculties, notamy weakening of the crown sheet, and it has further given rise to difficultiesin fitting "the circulator device to fireboxes of different types and sizes.

In accordance with the present invention, the f-oregoing disadvantages are overcome'by the employment of a circulatorcornprising a flatted body constituting the reservoir, together with a plurality of tubular outlet legs connected with said body and individually connected with the crown sheet. Where a multiplicity of' outlets are incorporatedin asingle circulator, a special probl'enr arises in connection with maintaining water circulation ofreasonab'le velocity over all of the interior surfaces of the circulator. In certain arrangements employing multiple outlets. as heretofore proposed, dead spots, or areas ofsluggish circulation were present, especially at surfaces between adjacent circul'ator outlets. Such dead spots are objectionable not only from thestandpoint ofeiiiciency, but are fllrthenhighly'clasngcrous, in some cases having even produced explosions. This difii'culty has been overcome in accordance with the present invention by" a novel configuration of the circulator, especiallyadjacent the outlets, as will further appear.

In addition to the foregoing; the inventioncontemplates'm'eans providing for convenient adaptation of the circulator to different-installations, this being accomplished without impairment of the desired configuration of the main body of the ci'rculator and, therefore, without impairing the water circulation inregions-between: adjacent outlets.

The circulator of this invention further provides for connection of circulator outlets at a multiplicity of. points. distributed lengthwise ofthe crown sheet. and even forwardly-in the region of the combustion chamber provided in many loco- I motive fireboxes ahead of the throat sheet.

The circulator ofthe invention is also arranged for convenient support of a fire brick arch extended upwardly and rearwardly from the throat sheet.

The circulators of the invention may" be used not only by-themselves but, if desired; in combination with circulators of other types; as'will further appear:

How the foregoing objects and advantages are attained, together with others which will occur to those skilled" inthe art; will be" clear from the following description; referring to the accom panyi'ng drawings, in which- Figural is'alongitudinalvertical sectionalviewthrough a locomotive firebox witha circulator constructed in accordance with-this invention applied thereto:

Figure 2'is a horizontal sectional view takensubstantiallyas-indicatedby'thesection line A -2' on" Figure 1'; 1

Figure- 3 is a View similar to Figure l illustrating the modified type of circulatorin adifi'erent type of installation; incorporating other circula-- tors as'shown; for-example; in mycopendi'ng-application Serial No. 4223;845, filed December 20', 1941.

Referring first tothe-arrangement .of'Figures" 1 and 2', the fireb'oxi's-defirred by'sid'e sheets: 4; a crown sheet 5, a throat sheet'fi an'd abacksheet T. spaced outersheetsg serving todefine the watei legs; include-a-wrapper sheet 8, a sheet at'the throat-indicated at 9; and an outside baclc'sheet I'll; the space between the inside and outside sheets being closed by a mud ring I li a A fire doormay be provided at l2; and the usual flue sheet I3* is disposed at the" forward end of the com- I busti'on chamber- M extended .foriward-ly'from' the throat; Flue tubes Ii terminate in-the'fluesheet, l3 and extend forwardlytherefrom. through the boiler' (not shown): of'thelocomotive:

In the installation shown in Figures 1' and 2 a pairof" circulator devices is employed in. side-bysidezrelati'on, eachcirculatond'evice comprising a main body [6 preferably having flatted side walls staybolted asindicated at.v I 1; this body serving as a reservoir of appreciable capacity for heat absorption from the. fuel and flame stream. The lower edge of the body [6 has: a" bulge I 8- terminating in an inlet neck I9. and: serving: to support arch brick 20', the arrangement of which is-clearlysh'own in Figure 2. The inlet neck is connected with the water space of the-boiler at the-throat sheet.

The upper edge of the-body I6: is. provided with a plurality of serrations or undulations; the apex of eachof whiclr terminates; in an outlet. Preferably, separate tubularoutlet members: 21* server-,0- interconnect-the apicesof the serrations. on-thecirculatorbody with thecrown sheet; as clearly shown in Figure 1. The tubular connec--' tions 2| are desirably initially formed of apple ciable length so that they may be cut orfitted in installing the oirculator; therebyrendering-the circulatorreadily adaptable to installations" of different types.

From examination of Figure 1, it will be noted that the junction walls of adjacent serrations at the upper edge of the circulator body diverge upwardly from each other. Preferably, the serrations are joined by a curved wall 22. In this way, ease of flow to and out of the several outlet connections is provided and areas of sluggish circulation are avoided. With this same object in view, the inlet neck IQ of the circulator desirably communicates with the body of the circulator at a point intermediate its fore and aft extremities. When arranged in this manner, most effective distribution is provided between the several outlets. Location of the inlet neck in the manner just mentioned is of further advantage since thereby the configuration of the circulator as a whole is such that the forward portion thereof may project into the combustion chamber H ahead of the throat, this being clearly illustrated in Figure 1.

Rapid flow and good distribution thereof to and through the several outlets are factors of considerable importance. These factors are achieved by various structural features already mentioned including the fact that the body of the circulator provides a reservoir of appreciable capacity, the distribution and flow being further enhanced by the fact that the outlets communicate with the edge of the body rather than a side face thereof. Preferably, the proportions are such that the distance between the lowest point of the serrations and the bottom of the circulator body is greater than the thickness of the body.

Turning now to the modification of Figure 3, the firebox is again defined by various walls or sheets 4a, 5a, 6a, 1a, 8a, 9a and Illa, similar to those described above, although in Figure 3 the firebox is of considerably greater length, as is also the combustion chamber Ha.

Three types of circulators are illustrated in the installation of Figure 3. Circulator A is of the type fully disclosed in my copending application above referred to, as is also circulator B. Circulator C is of the general type described above with reference to Figures 1 and 2, this circulator, however, being used in the present installation in association with circulators A and B. An effective arrangement incorporates a pair of circulators A arranged side-by-side, with a pair of circulators C, one arranged above each of circulators A.

The body 23 of circulator'C, in contrast with the circulator of Figures 1 and 2, has its upper and lower edges generally paralleling each other,

although the upper edge is serrated in the manner described above and connections 24 which may be curved somewhat so as to meet the crown sheet generally at right angles. These connections 24 may, of course, be

cut or fitted to the crown sheet in any given installation. The same is true of outlet connection 25 which extends rearwardly and upwardly from the back end of the circulator body 23.

The inlet neck 26 for this circulator projects forwardly and thence laterally for connection with ide sheet 4a. It will be understood that when employing a pair of circulators in accordance with Figure 3, the inlet neck of one circulator C would be connected with one side sheet and the inlet neck of the other with the other side sheet.

It may be observed that the body 23 of circulator C is not quite as large as the body of the circulator in Figures 1 and 2. However, it is provided with outlet still of capacity such as to provide a reservoir for heat absorption and for distribution of water between the several outlets. Although any body member having fiatted areas of appreciable size should be stay-bolted, as is indicated in Figure 1, some bodies may not be of suiilcient area to require staybolting. Thus, it will be noted that staybolting is not indicated on circulator C of Figure 3.

In connection with the foregoing, it should be understood that circulators of the type indicated in Figures 1 and 2 could also be employed in association with other circulators, for instance, by disposing them between and in the same plane with circulators of the type indicated at A in Figure 3. Moreover, circulators of the type such as shown at C in Figure 3 could, of course, be employed by themselves, for instance substantially in accordance with the showing of Figures 1 and 2.

In all types of installations it will be seen that the circulator of this invention provides effective distribution of water over the crown sheet without, however, resorting to the provision of elongated slots in the crown.

Both forms of flat bodied multiple outlet circulator herein disclosed are provided with outlet connections having an appreciable length of uniform cross sectional shape and area (preferably circular cross section), which is of importance from the standpoint of adapting the circulator to different installations, by cutting and fitting the outlets. These features are preferably employed regardless of whether the outlet connections are formed integrally with the fiatted body or are formed as separate tubular attachments, although the latter arrangement, as herein illustrated, is preferred from the standpoint of ease of manufacture.

The characteristics above described enable adaptation to different installations without requiring cutting or fitting of the body proper of the circulator, as is necessary in prior types of circulators where an edge of a flatted body is directly connected with the crown through an elongated slot. Thus, regardless of the particular installation, the desired interior surface contours of the body itself are maintained which, as hereinbefore noted, is of importance in avoiding areas of sluggish circulation.

I claim:

In a locomotive fire box having a crown sheet and a water leg, a water circulator adapted to be mounted in the firebox, said circulator (as viewed in vertical longitudinal section) having a plurality of tubular outlets of substantially circular cross-section positioned to be connected to and deliver over the crown sheet at longitudinally spaced-apart points, the junction walls of adjacent outlets diverging upwardly whereby areas of sluggish circulation are avoided, the front wall of said circulator being reversely curved to extend forwardly toward the front of the firebox and then upwardly to form the front edge of the forward outlet and its back wall being inclined rearwardly and then upwardly to form the rear edge of therearward outlet, and a tubular inlet to the lower portion of said circulator which inlet delivers thereto at a point intermediate its fore and aft extremities, said in let being positioned to be connected to and receive water from said water leg.

CHESTER A. SIEGEL. 

